Services helping Haringey’s older residents to leave hospital earlier and receive better care at home were given a boost last week after the government announced that the borough will receive £630,000 of a £150million funding package aimed at shortening hospital stays this winter.

Liberal Democrat pressure in government has ensured that the funding can be used to access various preventative services such as Home care support, crisis response teams and services providing specialist equipment for older people in Haringey.

Local Liberal Democrats have sought assurances that this funding will not be diverted to fill Council budget shortfalls elsewhere but will be used to support older residents leaving hospital.

Cllr David Winskill, Haringey Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson, comments:

“This is substantial sum of money and will go a long way making the transition for older people from hospital to home that much easier, safer and more comfortable.  It will also free beds up in our acute hospitals and hence release resources for other patients.”

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“By reinvesting these savings in social care we can offer more support for older people leaving hospital.

“It is absolutely crucial that Haringey NHS and the Council work together to help people leave hospital when they are ready. The benefits are on all sides – patients get to go home with the support they and their families need, and hospital beds are freed up.

“This money will help cut the delays in getting the equipment and adaptations that people may need to enable them to live independently at home – saving them from an unnecessary stay in hospital or going into residential care.”